September 26, Zalingei — After fleeing her home in El Fasher, Halima Haroun embarked on a long journey across the Jebel Marra region, during which she lost two of her five children due to hunger and disease. Along the journey, every time she arrived in a different area seeking food, medicine and shelter, she found nothing.
More than 4,500 displaced people in Jebel Marra region are facing starvation, the spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur, Adam Rijal, told Darfur24. Hundreds of children and women have died the past two months due to hunger and malnutrition. Families are fleeing to other areas in search of food and medicine.
Now in Zalingei, Halima said the situation in the shelters is dire, with no treatment or food.
“The Coordination launched several appeals to organizations and the international community, but they were met with disregard,” Rijal said. “Humanitarian aid has not yet reached Jebel Marra region, despite many promises from representatives of those organizations.”
He said that local communities’ food stocks have run out, and they have not been able to plant the fall season due to the rain. Local sources also told Darfur24 that more than a hundred new families arrived last Tuesday in central Jebel Marra coming from the city of El Fasher.
According to Rijal, daily deaths are being recorded among children, women and the elderly in the shelters for the displaced in the areas: Nertiti city, Kutrum, Tur, Qurni, Jildo, Darbat city, Suni, Jawa, Rokro city, Daya, Sarotoni, Fanga, Gorlang Bang, Lugi, Turong Tonga, Sabun Al-Faqr, Golo city, Daba Nira, Kalanj, Buri, Sabanga, Bari Ari.”